Choosing
by Writer of Daydreams
Summary: Sometimes, we must all choose between what is right, and what is easy. Hermione's choice seems clear. Spoilers for Deathly Hallows Part 2.


**A/N: Hey guys! I recently saw _Harry Potter and the_ _Deathly Hallows Part 2_ and the scene where Harry tells Ron and Hermione that he must go on to face Voldemort and die really touched me. The fact that Hermione would give up her life for Harry in a heartbeat is really heartwarming, and it inspired me. If that scene doesn't turn people in Hhr fans, I don't know what will! This is my first Harry Potter fanfic. My very first HP fanfic and its written for a scene in the very last HP movie. Ironic, no?**

**I hope you enjoy! Please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

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><p>Harry Potter is a horcrux and in the end, he must<em> die<em>. The revelation hits Hermione like a ton of bricks. After seven years of friendship, of loyalty, of _trying her hardest not to let him get killed,_ her best friend has no choice but to finally be brought to death at the hands of the man who murdered his parents. She supposes that she must've always known this, the hunch stashed away in some deep, dark, corner of her intelligent mind. The evidence was always there, for there was no other plausible explanation for why Harry could do what no wizard other than Voldemort could. Speaking to snakes, the link between their minds, even such subtle incidents as Harry almost being sorted into Slytherin, all hinted to a deeper connection with Tom Riddle, one that could never be fully explained.

At first Hermione is struck numb with the thought that Harry, _her Harry_ must leave them – _her - _forever, never to return again. But when he voices her thoughts aloud with a tone of finality, something in her rebels against the very notion that he must be murdered in order for this war to end once and for all. As tears of anguish fall uncontrollably from her eyes, there is only one thing that she can think to say to him.

_"I'll go with you."_

She conveys the words solemnly, without even a hint of hesitation visible in her voice. She feels no fear, no regret for offering her life so willingly to him, for she knows that is what she is doing. If she goes with him (if he _lets her go with him_, for Hermione knows that Harry will undoubtedly put up resistance), Voldemort will not hesitate to kill her. There will be no sparing of her life if she journeys into the forest with Harry. After the powerful friendship that Harry has shown her, she is nothing else but desperate to try and afford him more time, even if it is only a couple of more minutes to live his life. Her mind is quick to reject the thought of him dying, quick to deny the fact that after everything that they've been through, after everything the three of them have done to save the world from the terror of Voldemort, after everything Harry has given up – his childhood, his innocence, his _family_, that the only way to get rid of his enemy is to be killed by him. While she is heartbroken he has to die, she is resolute that he will not have to do it alone. She _will_ go with him.

It should astound her what she is willing to give up for her friend, and so _quickly!_ Seemingly at the drop of a hat, she is ready to give up her family, her new relationship with his best friend, even her very life for Harry. At the same time, she realizes that she should not at all be astounded. Over the years, Harry has become much more than a simple friend. She thinks that perhaps, even the term brother is not strong enough to describe her relationship with him. While she cannot seem to define their connection, she _knows_ deep inside her soul, that there will never be a bond that she has that will be stronger, not even this new, blossoming romance between her and Ron. Hermione has always known that even though she has feelings for Ron, they could never compare to her feelings for Harry. Somehow, her conviction of the sheer depth of her connection with Harry has never made Hermione feel scared, shocked, or uncertain in the least.

As Hermione stands in between her two best friends, she thinks that it has always come to this. She is loyal to the both of them, loves the both of them endlessly. It seems that she is always made to choose one boy over the other. When his name came shooting out of the Goblet of Fire and Ron was angry with Harry, jealous of his "glory", Hermione chose to stay loyal to him, doing her best to help him out with each dangerous task. Eventually, Ron saw reason and apologized, but already, the connection between Harry and her had seemed to go deeper than it did before, bonded by the time spent together without the remaining third of their trio.

Looking back at that particular time in her life, Hermione couldn't help but think that the incident in Fourth Year was nothing in comparison to the decision she had had to make most recently. She winced as she remembered the harsh words that were exchanged between the three of them in that cramped tent. It was a cold, dark, windy night, not unlike any of the other nights previously shared. However, she thinks that some part of them all knew that things could not go on as they were, that_ something_ was going to cause a rift between them eventually.

"_You don't know why I listen to the radio, do you? To make sure I don't hear Ginny's name. Or Fred, or George, or Mum." _

"_You think I'm not listening too? You think I don't know how this feels?"_

"_No, you don't know how it feels! Your parents are dead! You have no family!" _

"_Fine then, go! Go then!"_

"_Ron..." _

"_And you? Are you coming or are you staying?"_

At first, Hermione had felt nothing but confusion at those words. Was Ron barking? They were all here, in the wilderness searching for horcruxes to defeat one of the most powerful dark wizards of all time. They had no leads on where the other horcruxes were, where the sword of Gryffindor was, and could think of no other means to kill the one horcrux they already had in their possession. They had nothing but _each other_, and Ron was asking whether she would leave Harry all alone, and come with him? She could do nothing but hesitate, but that was all Ron had needed to know that she couldn't bare to leave Harry, to leave one friend and go away with the other. Later on, Hermione was stricken with grief, for she missed her red-headed friend, missed the way that he could lighten the tension in a room, make jokes, and comfort her when she was feeling hopeless and scared. Even though she regretted the fact that Ron had left – was _gone_, perhaps forever, she was not, _could_ _not_ be sorry for the choice she had made to stay with Harry.

"_Fine. I get it. I saw you two the other night."  
><em>

"_Ron, that's - that's nothing!"  
><em>

During the period of time in which Ron was not there, when it was just she and Harry, alone in their tent, Hermione had constantly thought over that exchange, something nagging her at the back of her mind every time she remembered the conversation. Lying in bed at night, Hermione would think about how she had denied to Ron that there was anything romantic going on between her and Harry. At the time, her words_ had_ rung true. But as the days became more desolate, and Ron's time away from them increased, Hermione become more hopeless of him ever returning to them. Gradually her feelings for Ron had diminished, and she began to see Harry in a different sort of light. In earlier times, Hermione could admit to herself that without a doubt, she was in love with Ron. She often dreamt of them, of Ron or Harry, sometimes the both of them being killed at the hands of Voldemort. In each of these dreams, they were always involved in a situation in which she was somehow powerless to stop the murder from happening, whether it was because she was apprehended before she could make any attempt at saving them, or because she herself had already died. Whenever she woke up, Harry was the one who would be comforting her, hugging her tightly to him, and wiping away the tears that had gathered in her fitful sleep. It was then that she would hug him back, begging him not to leave her, asking him shyly to stay and cuddle in the small bed with her, so that they could both get some sleep. During these times, she grew closer and closer to him, until it almost felt as if it were her and Harry, against the world. He was her lifeline, and she his. When he danced with her on that fateful December night, when she was in his arms, safe and sound, she had begun to feel something different for him. They clung to each other, and when the dance had ended, they stared into the other's eyes, engaging in one of those silent conversations that they were known to have. _We're in this together. _Hermione told him silently. _I need you, now, more than ever. _Harry's expressive, emerald green eyes told her. It was then that Hermione knew that she and Harry had an understanding between them. _We can do this. _They told each other.

When Ron had returned, Hermione was fiercely angry with him. _How dare you return here! How dare you try to apologize and win your way back into our hearts! You were gone for weeks! How could you have betrayed us, your best friends!_ She thought, frustrated. But Harry had seemed to take Ron back with open arms, and so she sought to follow his example, if only to keep the peace. Eventually, she had forgiven Ron, but Hermione knew that things would never be the same.

Throughout her time spent with Ron and Harry, Hermione has always found herself having to choose between the two of them. It is now that all of her decisions come to a head. Choosing Ron is taking the easy way out, for if she chooses to stay with him, there is no question that she will be safe, that the both of them will be. In fact, she suspects that that is exactly who Harry will want her to choose. He has never wanted anything else than for his friends to be out of danger. However, if she does not choose Harry, Hermione knows that she will regret it, perhaps for the rest of her life. Even though choosing Harry will be dangerous, if she does not, Hermione will forever remember that she did nothing to try and save him in the face of his imminent death. She thinks that she will lose a friend no matter what she decides. Hermione knows that it hurts Ron deeply that she always takes Harry's side, but this time, just like every other, she has no choice but to do so. She won't let herself abandon Harry - will never leave him, even if doing so hurts her other friend in the process.

As she throws herself into Harry's arms clutching him to her tightly, Hermione is desperate to delay his impending death for as long as she can. She becomes resolute. _If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill me too!_ She thinks fiercely. It was now that Hermione came to a startling conclusion: that despite the fact that she had impulsively kissed _Ronald Weasley_ in the Chamber of Secrets, that's all that her action was, _an impulse_. In reality, it is _Harry Potter_ that Hermione has fallen in love with. Perhaps she has always been in love with him. Even with her other best friend standing behind her, Hermione knows that there is nothing else that she can do.

Sometimes, Hermione thinks, it is hard to choose between what is right, and what is easy_. _But it isn't, not this time. Once again, her choice seems clear.

_"I think I've known for a long time now, and I think you have too."_

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><p><strong>AN: Did you like it? Review please! :D**


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